Wow. Great work all! I find macro the most difficult of anything I attempt, mostly due to the challenges of extremely shallow DOF and handheld vibration. I have a 20 year old Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro (same as yours Kerry?) Nikon mount that I shot with film and now on my DSLR's. I obviously need a lot more practice. Are you guys using flash on all of these to enable a quick shutter speed for hand-held? I'm always relying on daylight on the stream trying to photo mayflies, maybe that's POTP (part of the problem.)

Yes, always a flash, even in good daylight. Mostly because I get so close that I'm usually casting a shadow. Even if subject is in light I'll use flash for fill. But no shots are over 1/160 because my flash is just a manual non-high speed sync and Pentax limits the shutter when using non TTL non HSS flash.

Most of my macro shots are done using a tripod, mup, and a remote release. I rarely use a flash. I shoot a Nikon D800e and it's ability to use high ISO with little noise allows me to increase ISO quite a bit for faster shutter speeds. Most DSLRs made recently (last year or two) you can boost the ISO up a bunch and not get much noise. I have shot inside of bars without flash using ISOs to 6400 or higher with acceptable results. I don't shoot anything like what Brady is doing though and can see how he needs flash.

Brady, I don't have anything to compare the 800e to. I purchased the "e" over the straight 800 because the type of shooting I do rarely produces moiré issues and I figured for the cost of the camera with its high resolution, go after the highest quality shots possible. I noticed the recently announced D810 is only offered without the AA filter. It would seem Nikon figures there is no longer a need for it.

I think I'm gonna get one of those Raynox adapters to try on the end of some of my auto zooms. I don't mind manual, but I would like to have an auto focus option on occasion. The Raynox adapters seem to produce great results at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated AF macro lens.

I think I'm gonna get one of those Raynox adapters to try on the end of some of my auto zooms. I don't mind manual, but I would like to have an auto focus option on occasion. The Raynox adapters seem to produce great results at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated AF macro lens.

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I was looking at the Raynox DCR-250 that has a spring loaded clip. It will attach to any lens with filter ring of 52-67mm. I like the idea of that vs. a screw-in type that would require adapters to fit multiple lenses. The Raynox 250 would fit these lenses of mine: Nikon 50mm f/1.8 (old AF); Nikon 55-200mm VR; Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro (old AF); Tamron 70-300mm VR. Can’t use some of my lenses as their filter size is too large. Think I can find some good combos with that line-up? Will AF and VR be of any help when using this macro attachment?

16 shot stack using Helicon Focus. Not impressed. This was done in a studio with synced studio strobe lighting, subject was stationary and camera was on a thousand dollar tripod/balhead setup, MUP mode and remote trigger for camera and flash. Software complained about lighting variations and something else I can't remember. The lights used were Alien Bees 800s. A quality light and very little if any variation from shot to shot. This was a very controlled environment and shot. I will try again with the software but I feel I can as good a quality a shot by watching my aperture and depth of field without all the multiple shots and work in the computer.

I was looking at the Raynox DCR-250 that has a spring loaded clip. It will attach to any lens with filter ring of 52-67mm. I like the idea of that vs. a screw-in type that would require adapters to fit multiple lenses. The Raynox 250 would fit these lenses of mine: Nikon 50mm f/1.8 (old AF); Nikon 55-200mm VR; Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro (old AF); Tamron 70-300mm VR. Can’t use some of my lenses as their filter size is too large. Think I can find some good combos with that line-up? Will AF and VR be of any help when using this macro attachment?

Thanks!

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Some of my macro setups are cumbersome to carry around, can take ages to find subject in the field of view and focus. All that is fine when I want extreme magnification at home or that is what I've set out to do. But sometimes I'm out and about with an 18-135 walk around lens, and then you run into something you want a nice close-up of. I think this is where the Raynox 150 or 250 would shine. Pop that on whatever lens you're using for the given shot. Optics are well regarded on that thing for only being a $75 adapter. Very convenient when you want to be able to quickly switch what you're doing. I've seen a lot of good samples with those things.

Kerry, I tried out Combine ZP the other day. It was a house fly and I only had two shots that could line up. I got the head and rear in focus but didn't get a good shot for the middle so I scrapped it. But, it was very simple to use and the result wasn't bad given what I fed it. Really didn't ask me to do anything special nor did it complain. Loaded the shots and told it to stack. You might want to give it a shot since it's totally free.